meri kirihimete

Kia ora, friends! It's Christmas morning here in Nelson, though it doesn't feel like it at all. The day's all rain and misty mountains---a favorite of mine but no friend to a day planned for the beach. It's just about cleared up now, though, so we're packing our bags and heading to Tahunanui in the next little bit.

So, quick update (and I won't be editing this, so apologies in advance):

I cried at first sight of land. O laughed, but N's eyes matched mine and she reached across the airplane aisle to grab my hand in a gesture of solidarity as we touched down. There's still a very surreal sense of this all being the best of dreams; I sit here at 111 Tipahi Street as if it's the most usual thing in the world. I'm here, I keep telling myself. New Zealand. Here. Home. And yet my mind refuses to process the enormity of it. Instead I feel the relief of a long absence over, like I can finally relax, let go, settle in. It's very much the same as returning from a summer's trip, fun as it was, to fully revel in the familiar and the comforting. It's been absolutely beautiful.

Oh, shoot. Tahunanui calling---um, AucklandWellingtonCubaStreetTePapaNelsonHomeNCGNCBsuperlove
churchSalomeSurprise!Macka'sAwkwardLoveLifeLaugh got to run!

(did you catch all that?)

haere mai

I'm here.

this is the last time

So not supposed to be blogging at a time like this, but here's the latest:

::: my dad & I just decided to nix the laptops. So I'll be cafe-ing it from here on out, meaning blogging may not even be a possibility.

::: but I'll try to get a post or two in, really I will.

also,

(and this is silly, I know) the freeway. I hardly ever drive, and haven't made the trip home for a while, so it was something of a shock. It's just so zippy.

mum's the word

'Cause mine's the best. Just when you think Christmas couldn't possibly be any better, she slips this under the tree. It's red. It's British. It's typographic brilliance. It will follow me wherever I go, wherever I stay, from house to house as long as I live.

Throw in tomorrow's flight and I'm gold. Whatever did I do to deserve such a life?

if you give this girl a sharpie

She will want a piece of paper. Actually, she might want two. She'll have to clear off the kitchen table, because she likes her workspace empty and clean, but if she can only have half the table, that's okay, too. She will draw a swirl or two, but then do your dishes because the full sink is too distracting. She'll switch the music to shuffle but continually change the songs to her liking. So it's not really random, is it?

Once the dishes are done, she'll want her chair back. And the Sharpie. And another piece of paper, because your PoliSci notes aren't exactly inspiring. She'll change the music again, instrumental this time, and turn it down low---but even that doesn't matter, because once she starts drawing, nothing outside the page exists. She'll forget the music. She'll forget your cluttered half of the table. And she will most certainly forget that the most crucial to-dos on her list have yet to be ticked off.

hail the conquering hero

All that hard work paid off in the end---though I give full credit
to mum for my Most Fashionable Fellow award
(the gold sweater was all her work).